Adorkable
by Shannon Vega
Summary: In the wake of Darth Baras's defeat, LS Jaesa ponders her options for marriage and children as the LS F! SW commanded. And there's really only one option...Pierce. Oh, boy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Star Wars: The Old Republic, or any of the characters included in this story from the gameplay or mythology of Star Wars. I am making absolutely no money from this. I am writing this for fun.

Author's Note: This was inspired by a wonderful prompt on the swtor kink_meme site shipping Pierce/LS Jaesa. Here's the prompt: "So if Jaesa is Light Sided, she really plays up pretending to be Dark Side in front of the crew. LT. Pierce, in one cutscene, is clearly not impressed _or _fooled - rolling his eyes and going 'Reel it in, babe.' I have shipped this pairing ever since, but I seem to be the only one. Help an anon out, peeps! Bonus points for LS!SW/Quinn going on in the background, and an entire internets for if said LS!SW has encouraged Jaesa to have kids, leading to the initial hookup with Pierce. 9_9"

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Adorkable

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Jaesa gnawed on her fingernail, watching Lord—she meant Darth—Rhy and husband Quinn cuddling on one of the sofas in the main gathering area. The Darth had finally defeated Darth Baras—they were free of that odious man and his machinations against both her Master and the crew. The only problem was that Darth Rhyassa had all but ordered her apprentice to marry and have children.

Jaesa wasn't completely averse to the idea, she supposed. It was just never something she'd really thought about—after all, Jedi didn't marry or have children. And it wasn't as if she'd had a plethora of experience with men or opportunities for matrimony, what with the way she and Darth Rhyassa tended to gallivant around the galaxies.

She cast her gaze around the lounge, her eyes lighting on each member of the crew. Well, all but Broomark, who was in the hold where he was most comfortable. Besides, he would not be appropriate for what she was considering. Wrong species and, just-no. Vette was out, for obvious reasons. The Twi'lek was a friend but she also wasn't a man and what her Master…strike that, she wasn't a Jedi anymore, Rhyassa was a Darth…had ordered her to do was marry and have children. And that required a man, according to all of her research. Though there were some asexual species in the Outer Rim that could spontaneously reproduce…but she was digressing. Quinn was also off limits for obvious reasons—she wasn't about to ask Darth Rhyassa to share her husband with her apprentice…it made her all squicky inside just to even think it. Besides, for all of her kindness, she was certain that her Master would gut her for the simple suggestion. She shuddered. That left…Pierce.

She gulped, looking at the auburn-haired man who leaned casually in the doorway, watching the gathering from the other side of the room. Her head cocked to one side as she considered him. Now that she thought about it, he wasn't…unattractive. Quite the opposite, in fact. And it wasn't as if he was seeing anyone. At least she thought he wasn't. What if he was? What then?

He was watching her. She ducked her eyes, her hair spilling over her face, hiding her. She didn't want him to catch her seeing him, then he would come over and…

"Having fun?"

Jaesa squeaked, looking up to find the Black Ops soldier towering over her. How had she never noticed that he was so…big? And tall? "Lots. Loads. Much fun is being had," she babbled nervously.

Pierce arched a scarred brow at his Darth's apprentice, a smirk crossing his lips. "Right, Sunshine." He leaned back against the wall next to her, eyes still scanning the assembled party.

Jaesa nodded, straightening. "Um, may I ask you a question?"

Pierce glanced down at the petite woman beside him. This Sith apprentice still struck him as odd. Trying to paint herself as the hardened, dark apprentice to the Darth, when she was anything but. She was sweet and he didn't do sweet. "What, babe?"

Jaesa frowned. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Pierce had been in the midst of taking a gulp of his spicebrew and choked, nearly spitting his beer down the front of his uniform. "What?" He turned incredulous brown eyes on the woman beside him. "Excuse me?"

Jaesa shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. She took a breath, preparing herself to run her spiel by the man beside her. "It's just that Darth Rhy said that I should have children and get married, though not in that order, and she said that it was my duty to be happy, and I want to be a good apprentice, and I've done all the research and it has to be a Human male for it to work right and Rhy would kill me if I asked her to share Quinn and I don't even know how Talz breed and…"

Pierce leaned down, pressing one long finger to her lips, brown eyes boring into hers. "Take a breath, Sunshine," he ordered in a low drawl.

Jaesa nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Come with me, love. We are not having this conversation out here," he advised her, planting one broad hand on the small of her back and guiding her out of the lounge.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter One. I still own nothing. I am still making no money from this. Star Wars and its associated wonders belong to other people and I'm just playing in the sandbox.

Author's Note: Thank you to all of you who have favorited and followed this story. It means a lot to me. Any suggestions or comments are welcome-I'm a true believer that your input can make my stories better. Please, enjoy.

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Pierce guided his Darth's apprentice away from the festivities, his sharp mind going over her words as the sounds fell away behind them. He was often assumed to be an ignorant lout—Jaesa herself had said as much one time when he'd stumbled upon the Darth and she having a conversation about working with traitors to the dark side. But a black ops soldier did not survive for long if he was an idiot and Pierce's career, storied as it was, was proof enough that he was no idiot. Still, he couldn't quite fathom why Jaesa would pick him, given her clear low opinion of him. Ah, well, he sighed to himself, he'd find out soon enough.

Soon they were in the bunk area that occupied part of the forward hold. If Darth Rhy had kept more soldiers aboard her ship, he'd be bunking with them. But the Darth preferred to keep her team light and mobile, a choice he could respect, and so he didn't have to share the collection of bunks with anyone else. Which also meant that he could guarantee some privacy for this conversation—something he definitely felt was in order. He settled into a posture he tended to use for interrogations, reminding himself with a smirk that at least this time he wouldn't be koltoing his knuckles after he got the information out of someone.

Jaesa let her brown eyes wander around the bunk room, curiosity awash on her face. She'd rarely visited Pierce's home away from home, as it were. She guessed that what she saw fit the man in front of her quite well. She knew he only used one of the wide bunks—Imperials clearly understood that making a bed large was a good investment given the size that some Imperial soldiers got to. The other bunks were made up, ready to go with standard issue sheets and covers. There were a few momentos scattered about—things that she guessed reminded Pierce of distant worlds and past battles.

Pierce guided Jaesa to one of the lower bunks, sitting her down while he loomed over her, arms crossed over his broad chest. His frown deepened as he waited. Finally, when he saw that she had no intention of starting the conversation again, he rubbed the throbbing space between his brows and motioned for her to start. "Let's take this from the top, shall we, love?" he suggested gruffly.

Jaesa nodded, drawing a deep breath to start the spiel she'd rehearsed all over again.

Pierce groaned, realizing what she was about to do, and shook his head. Holding out his hand to stop her, he sighed. He didn't need for her to repeat that long—and frankly, slightly disturbing—proposal, he just needed the facts. "So Darth Rhy has told you that you're to make babies and find a husband. That about sum it up?"

She nodded seriously. "Though I don't think she meant it in that order. I think she meant that I was supposed to get married first." Her expression was pensive. "It is best to be married when you have babies, isn't it? I mean, back on Alderaan it wasn't acceptable for women to have babies out of wedlock but maybe it's different in the Empire?" So many things were different in the cultures, she wouldn't have been surprised if attitudes on marriage and children were different as well.

Pierce frowned, shifting slightly, armor creaking with the movement. "No, pet, it's the same. Now, why me, babe?" He was honestly curious about that. He didn't think that Darth Rhy would launch her precious apprentice at the hardened black ops warrior but he'd been surprised by the Darth before. And he had a feeling that the Darth would never have suggested the brawny soldier as marriage or father material to the impressionable ex-Padawan.

Jaesa frowned, confusion crossing her motile face. She was so easy to read, he thought. "You called me babe."

Pierce shrugged. "Pet name. I call you by 'em all the time. What of it?" It was a habit he'd picked up in his youth on the streets, long before he joined the Imperial Army—a habit he wasn't likely to stop anytime soon.

Jaesa glanced down at the ground. Her shoes were suddenly very interesting, she decided. Perhaps she should have discussed how to approach Pierce with the Darth before she approached the Black Ops soldier, she thought. This wasn't going how she'd planned. "Back when you caught Darth Rhy and I talking. You called me babe. Told me to 'reel it in.'"

He shrugged. "So? No one would believe you're scary, love. Don't have it in ya."

"I do so have it in me to be scary," she countered, pouting at his smirk. But she plowed on regardless. "You didn't tell on me. To Quinn or Baras. About what you heard between Rhy and I."

Pierce shrugged again. He wasn't one to tattle—that was something that the Captain was better at. Though Quinn had earned his grudging respect. "Not my place." He shifted again, wishing he had brought his spicebrew with him. But he'd abandoned the bottle back in the lounge and he wasn't about to go back and get it. "I don't get into Sith politics—you live longer that way," he confided. "'Sides, the Sith's done right by us and I got no complaints."

Jaesa nodded. She couldn't disagree—but she still felt like there was something more to the broad man before her. "Why do you pretend that you're not smart?"

Pierce chuckled. This was what she was concerned about? Sometimes Jaesa's thought processes were a sight to behold—she could bounce between subjects like a Huttball bouncing off a Jedi's head. "Who says that?" he teased.

Jaesa frowned. "You're not stupid. You're actually quite bright."

A chuckle, deep and rich, dropped from his lips as he smirked. "Don't sound so shocked, pet. Just 'cause I'm not fond of the books you and the priss read, don't mean that I've never cracked a book." He rolled his shoulders, hearing and feeling a satisfying popping as muscles started to relax. "Still don't explain why me."

Jaesa's eyes fell to the floor again. She didn't want to feel shy around Pierce but he was just so…there. Present. His aura (she wouldn't call it a Force signature—he was about as Force-blind as anyone else) radiated power and masculinity and it, more than anything else, seemed to turn her into the shy girl she'd been on Alderaan before her induction into the Jedi. "Because I like you."

Pierce gawped at her. She liked him? Had he heard right? Her voice had been so soft he could have sworn it was a breeze blowing past his ear. It was preposterous—it had to be. Surely the Darth was setting him up for some elaborate prank. But as he looked at Jaesa, he realized that the Darth wouldn't be so cruel with her Padawan. Rhy might have a wicked sense of humor, but she drew the line at anyone hurting her crew. He swallowed the chuckle that had been burbling up at the ludicrousness of this situation, knowing Jaesa wouldn't appreciate being laughed at. Time to find out if this was all true, he decided. "You know what I am, love. What I do. What I'm capable of." He frowned, taking a step closer to her, invading her space. "I'm not a nice man," he reminded her.

Jaesa sighed, brown eyes meeting his. "Would you ever hurt me?"

Pierce shuddered slightly at the thought. "No." The response was instinctive, quick.

Jaesa nodded. "Would you ever let anyone other than Rhy hurt me?"

Again, the answer was blindingly quick. "No."

Jaesa smiled softly. "That's why. You're not a nice man to our enemies, but those are our enemies. I'm not nice to our enemies," she reminded him, standing up from the bunk and taking a step towards him. "You protect us, defend us. You fight for us."

Pierce watched with cautious eyes as she reached out, touching his crossed arms. "You know what you're asking, girl?" He had to be sure. Certain.

Jaesa nodded but her lip quivered a little. "I've read all about it. Insert Tab A into Slot B, right?"

Pierce groaned helplessly.

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